Karnataka announces total lockdown on Sundays starting July 5
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Saturday took a slew of decisions including imposing total lockdown on Sundays starting July 5 in view of the spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the state.
It was also decided that there will be night curfew from 8 pm to 5 am, which will come into effect from Monday, according to an official statement.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa with the ministers and officials amid growing opposition outcry to impose stringent lockdown to contain COVID-19 cases in the state.
"Lockdown would be imposed every Sunday, with effect from July 5, 2020, until further orders. No activities shall be permitted on that day except essential services and supplies.
All government offices shall remain closed on all Saturdays, along with second and fourth Saturdays with effect from July 10," the statement read.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner was directed to set up more number of wholesale vegetable markets to avoid crowding in large wholesale vegetable markets in the city.
It was also decided to have a centralized bed allocation system to speed up the hospitalization of COVID-19 patients.
The Chief Minister directed the officials to enhance the number of ambulances to carry coronavirus patients and to arrange separate ambulances for carrying mortal remains of patients who die due to the contagion.
He also directed the officials to use the police control room wireless system to identify the location and easy movement of ambulances.
Yediyurappa told the officials to publish details of nodal officers working for COVID Management.
It was decided at the meeting to delegate more responsibilities to joint commissioners of eight municipal zones in Bengaluru and also appoint Karnataka Administrative Services officers in these zones to assist the joint commissioners.
The 180 ESI doctors appointed by the labor department will also be pressed into service and probationary Tahsildars will be appointed as nodal officers for coronavirus hospitals and COVID care centers.
Marriage halls, hostels, and other institutions in Bengaluru will also be reserved for COVID care centers and to avail railway coaches with beds.
The Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban was directed to identify more places for the last rites of coronavirus victims.
Yediyurappa told the official to form teams for conducting the last rites.
Besides notifying reservation of 50 percent of beds in medical colleges and private hospitals, the BBMP Commissioner will also notify tie-up with hotels with hospitals to avoid any shortage of beds for treatment, the Chief Minister said during the meeting.
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Bank account in Ramgarh tracked for fraudulent fund transactions across 24 states, 4 arrested
Ramgarh (Jharkhand) (PTI): Jharkhand police on Thursday said it has unearthed a network of interstate cyber frauds and arrested four miscreants for fraudulent transactions through a bank account in Ramgarh district after complaints of 274 suspected transactions in 24 states.
The states where complaints for fraudulent transactions were registered included Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The action followed inputs received through 'Samanvaya portal', a centralised, web-based platform launched by the Union Home Ministry to curb cybercrime.
"We arrested four cyber miscreants after a current account with Kuju (Ramgarh) branch of the State Bank of India was found to have registered suspected financial transactions in 24 states with the help of the Pratibimba portal of the Home Ministry through the Samanvaya portal," Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.
During the probe, police found that the account was opened under the MSME Udyam Registration scheme in the name of Shree Ganesh Enterprises, he said.
The account had been linked to as many as 274 complaints from different states related to cyber fraud and illegal fund transfers.
The registered proprietors of the enterprise were identified as Rahul Gupta (37), Ravi Kumar Verma (34), and Ajay Sharma (33), all residents of Ramgarh district, a statement from the Ramgarh police said.
During interrogation, Rahul Gupta and Ravi Kumar Verma revealed that they had opened multiple current accounts at the behest of Ritesh Agrawal alias Munna (40) and Sonu Kumar Jha (34).
They admitted receiving Rs 1.2 lakh in exchange for facilitating the opening of these accounts.
"The accused further confessed to sharing OTPs, activating mobile banking services, and handing over control of the accounts to the main operators through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These accounts were then allegedly used to route fraudulent transactions.
Police said mobile data analysis of the accused led to the recovery of crucial digital evidence, including details of SIM cards, bank accounts, passbooks, ATM cards, QR code scanners, Aadhaar cards, and PAN cards shared through messaging platforms.
A total of four accused have been arrested so far and sent to judicial custody.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Further investigation is underway, the police said.
